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Poet, Writer & Educator

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I’m back, after a much-needed and lengthy hiatus from keeping this website up-to-date. Lots has happened in my life on the personal front, both sad and joyful, which meant that this website and its ongoing maintenance took a backseat. With that said, in writing news, I started the year seeing the magnificent art installation “Excavation/Elevation,” created in response to my book, Closer to Where We Began, exhibited in the Offsite Design Festival in January. I had the honour and privilege of judging CV2 Magazine‘s annual “2 day Poem Contest,” and very excited for the winner to be announced. I’m also quite excited to be returning to the Art Bar, featuring on Tuesday, July 17, along with my good friend Jacob Scheier and the legendary bill bissett. Happy summer!

Long overdue catch-up post: these last few months, I’ve done readings in New York and Montreal alongside phenomenal poets. I was thrilled to be part of Word on the Street in Toronto, seeing my book transformed into an art installation by visual artist Marian Wihak as part of Sculpting New Reads. So much more to be said about these experiences, though it’s hard to find the words to describe seeing my book interpreted and represented in three-dimension space, in such stunning, deeply moving ways (photos to come soon).

And now the next book-related adventure, which is coming up so soon and seems almost impossible to believe! On Sunday, November 26th, I’ll be reading at the Vancouver Jewish Community Centre, as part of the Jewish Book Festival, with Rafi Aaron and Naomi West. I have reading dates arranged for Salt Spring Island (November 30th), Victoria (December 1st) and New Westminster, BC on December 2nd. Talk about a whirlwind! I’m looking forward to being reunited with the staggering beauty of the West Coast, the good friends and wonderfully gracious writers who are hosting me there.

First, most recent news: I am elated to have won first place in CV2 Magazine‘s annual 2-Day Poem Contest! The challenge: write a poem in two days, using the words absquatulated, stippled, dank, unroofed, bunk, foundling, bombastic, daguerreotype, begets, and copacetic. My winning entry can be found here!

I’ve been extremely busy, teaching full-time (summer is off the hook, as they say, in the private language school biz), and doing my best to enjoy summer in Toronto, as rainy as it’s been. I’m most excited right now about an upcoming reading in New York at the Bowery Poetry Club, as part of Why Are There Words-NYC‘s monthly reading series. The Facebook event page for the reading is now up!

Hello again. It’s been a while. The last few months have been a whirlwind for me, filled with the tremendous, unprecedented joy of launching my book, Closer to Where We Began, at the Glad Day Bookstore in Toronto, on April 12, 2017, to a most appreciative and receptive audience that included some of my dearest friends and family. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege and reading alongside other fantastic poets, including fellow Tightrope authors Ron Charach and Karen Mulhallen, Jennifer LoveGrove, Katheri Lanthier, Julie Cameron Gray, Bänoo Zan, Steven Takatsu, Maureen Scott Harris, and perhaps most notably, one of my oldest, dearest friends, Kelly Norah Drukker, whose award-winning debut collection, Small Fires, came out last year. In the process, it’s been beyond thrilling to meet and get to know so many lovely folks in the Toronto community, who have been incredibly kind and generous with their feedback on my book. Other cool stuff: I turned the not-so-big 4-0, and had a fantastic weekend trip to New York. I’ve been teaching full-time again and focusing a lot of energy on my students, who continue to challenge and inspire in all kinds of ways, every day. More adventures await. More to come!

Pardon the fuzzy photo. Book launch at the Glad Day Bookstore, April 12, 2017

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First, most recent news: I am elated to have won first place in CV2 Magazine‘s annual 2-Day Poem Contest! The challenge: write a poem in two days, using the words absquatulated, stippled, dank, unroofed, bunk, foundling, bombastic, daguerreotype, begets, and copacetic. My winning entry can be found here!

I’ve been extremely busy, teaching full-time (summer is off the hook, as they say, in the private language school biz), and doing my best to enjoy summer in Toronto, as rainy as it’s been. I’m most excited right now about an upcoming reading in New York at the Bowery Poetry Club, as part of Why Are There Words-NYC‘s monthly reading series. The Facebook event page for the reading is now up!